Google Play Newsstand code identified in Play Store 4.4

In their ongoing teardown of Play Store 4.4, Android Police have found multiple mentions of a “Play Newsstand” that could turn out to be a one-price news subscription service similar in structure to Play Music All Access. This could give users unlimited access to premium news content for a monthly subscription fee. The code also indicates that the service would, if activated, allow for a free trial of the rumored digital news service.

A Play Newsstand service could complement Play Magazines, which lets users discover, purchase, and try out magazines before subscribing. However, Play Newsstand is not a guaranteed addition to Google Play. As Android Community points out, we saw similar code a few months ago for Play News, which didn’t come to fruition.

There’s no indication as to whether there will be multiple payment tiers. For example, Play Newsstand could be offered on the all-in-one price as Play Music All-Access does, or it could be more on the à la carte schedule. Google hasn’t made any official announcements about the service, which from a technical standpoint is ready to launch.

The discovery of this code comes less than one month after Google’s chief economist Hal Varian delivered a rosy outlook for the future of the news industry in the realm of electronic news consumption. This could signal a company-wide move towards the news aggregation business. It also serves as additional circumstantial evidence that Play Newsstand is a bona fide possibility.